This year’s Christmas may be a violent one north of Nigeria if indications are anything to go by. Barely three days to the biggest event in Christendom, a heavy explosion this morning rocked Kaduna even as suicide bombers attacked selected targets in neighbouring Kano. Kaduna, which is still mourning last Saturday’s death of Governor Patrick Yakowa in a copter crash, is the political capital of the North while Kano is the region’s economic hub.

A breaking news from Kaduna has it that an explosion has rocked Kaduna Textiles Limited, a massive structure that once housed a famous but now moribund company. Details of the explosion are being awaited.

Meanwhile in Kano, facilities belonging to two of Nigeria’s leading telecom firms, Airtel and MTN, were hit by suicide bombers in the metropolis.A lone suicide bomber struck at each of the branch facilities, killing a yet to identified number of people.

News Express reports that explosions and suicide bombings have become a routine occurrence in parts of the north since the violent Islamic sect Boko Haram reared its head in the region in 2009. All efforts so far made by the Nigerian Government to rein in the group have proved abortive.

•Photo: A suicide bomb scene.